Life stories
by ImpulsiveWriter321
Summary: This is just a very long, story about the life of the storm hawks. It get's very intense, with visons, marrages, and little packages. AXP, FXST, JXOC, SXOC, RXOC. *I am rewriting this story with a new title and new plots. If anyone would like to continue this version, please private message me*
1. Chapter 1

Aerrow walked up to Stork, gently tapping him on the shoulder. The merb jumped about ten feet in the air and then flopped back down again.

"Must you do that do me!" Stork said.

"Sorry." Aerrow said. "But do you know exactly where we're going?"

"Yes. Finn gave me these directions. He said they came straight from you." He said.

Aerrow took the slip of paper Stork handed him and hung his head.

"Stork. Finn wrote down directions to Finland." Aerrow said and gave Stork back the sheet.

"YOU MEAN I'VE BEEN TAKING US TO FINLAND!!!! FINN!!!!!!!!!!!!" Stork yelled. Aerrow rubbed out his ears. He never hears Stork scream that loud. Finn stumbled into the foyer, appently just waking up.

"We at Finland yet?" He asked.

"No. Aerrow, give me the right directions please." Stork said. Aerrow handed him a piece of paper and Stork re-directed the condor.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Finn said, and flopped down on the couch. Aerrow rolled his eyes as Junko ran through the door, at top speed.

"Piper's turned purple!" He screamed. Aerrow, Finn, and Stork just stared at him.

"I told you Junko. It's just a light crystal. You were seeing the reflection of my purple notebook." Piper said, walking through the door. Radarr jumped up on Aerrow's shoulder.

"Hey buddy." Aerrow said.

"You guys ready for your rounds?" Stork said.

"Yea." They answered.

"Then get going." Stork said. Aerrow, Finn, Junko and Piper ran to get their veiches. They launched off into the sky and looked around for any cyclonians. Well, Aerrow and Piper were. Junko and Finn were listening to Finn's new CD. Piper rolled her eyes. Aerrow just chuckled at her reaction. They sat out there, keeping up with the condor, until Stork let out a huge honk. They looked down to see their destoination. A large terra, with many buildings and stores lined the streets. Piper's face lit up and they zoomed down. People swarmed around them as the condor landed. Two people, and man and a woman, stepped out of the crowd and more toward them, smiles on their faces. Piper squeled and ran over to them.

"Mom! Dad!" Piper exclaimed. They were on Piper's home terra, Citudus.

"Oh Piper! It's been much too long since we've seen you!" Her mother said.

"How are you?" Her father asked.

"Fine. Just fine. Mom, dad…this is my squadron. This is our pilot Stork. That's our mechanic, Junko. That's our sharp-shooter, Finn. That's our leader's co-pilot, Radarr. And that's our leader, Aerrow." She said, guestering to each of them as she went along. Aerrow stepped forward and stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet you." He said. Piper's father rougly shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you too boy! Piper's told us much about you in her letters." He said.

"Yes. It's nice to finally meet all of you." Her mother said.

"Please, let's go to our house and get rid of this annoying crowd." Her father said, and led them to a fairly large house and let them inside.

"Wow! This is huge!" Finn said. Aerrow elbowed him. But Piper's mother just chuckled.

"Yes, it is. I told Matt I didn't want it this big but he wouldn't listen to me." Piper's mother said.

"Well, I wasn't going to make it a shack!" Matt said. "Or did you want that Lilyan?"

"No, no. Just something…not as big." Lilyan said.

"What have you been doing all this time?" Piper asked.

"Nothing much. Worrying about you, sending letters to you, worrying about you…" Lilyan trailed off. Matt rolled his eyes.

"Come now Lilyan! The girl can take care of herself! And don't say that stuff around her nice friends!" Matt said. Piper blushed and Finn snickered. They chattered some more and sat down to have dinner. Lilyan was surprised that Radaar accually knew how to eat with a spoon. It was toward the middle of dinner when Lilyan looked toward Matt uncomterably. Matt sighed.

"So…you all go to un charted terra's at all?" He asked.

"Sometimes. Why?" Junko asked.

"We need you guys to check out one for us." Matt said. Aerrow's eyes lit up at a new challenge. Piper's did as well.

"Where?" Aerrow asked.

"Not far from here. We discovered it last week, but one one's been brave enough to accually go down there and check it out." Lilyan said.

"We'll do it!" Piper and Aerrow said together.

"What!" Finn, Junko and Stork exclaimed.

"We said, we'll do it." Piper said again.

"Great!" Matt said. "How about tomorrow?"

"They don't need to go that early. Let them enjoy there vacation without all this stuff about an un charted terra." Lilyan said.

"It's okay mom. We do this stuff for a living. It would be heart-breaking for us not to do something like that for a while." Piper said. Aerrow nodded but everyone else quickly shook their heads.

"All right. You go tomorrow." Matt said, and dug into his food. Lilyan just looked down at her plate. After dinner was cleaned up, everyone hit the sack. It was going to be a big day tomorrow.

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Aerrow gently skidded across the terra, while the rest of the storm hawks landed behind him. He looked around the terra to find it had once been a large town like Citudus. But now it just looked like a ghost town. Buildings had been burned and destroyed, the streets were turned up, and there was only one building standing at the end of the town. He didn't know what…but something about this place made Aerrow wary. Like something wasn't right. Piper walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said. He got off his skimmer and walked in the front of the hawks as they made their way into the town.

"Let's spilt up. Everyone go a different way. You too Radarr." Aerrow said. Everyone spilt and took off. Aerrow came to a large building that had been knocked down and burned. It seemed to be a house. A large house. He bent down and picked up a burned picture. It was of a family and a dog. The dog was a large husky and the boy was about seven with flaming red air and bright green eyes. The bodies of the parents were on the picture but their heads had been burned off. Aerrow's eyes went wide and he blinked. When he opened his eyes again, he gasped. The building was standing up right again and the streets were swarming with people. The town looked as if nothing had touched it. And his team was no where in sight.

"Aerrow!" He heard a woman yell. He looked into the house to see the boy in the picture playing with the husky dog. The boy looked up as a woman walked in. Aerrow carefully stepped into the house, but no one noticed him.

"Yes, mommy?" The boy said.

"Dinner time." She said, and hauled him up. The woman was tall, with long red hair, and hazel eyes. She led the boy into the kitchen and Aerrow fallowed. A man was sitting in a chair, with blazing red hair and green eyes as well. Aerrow knew what was going on…but he didn't want to believe it. Not yet. The man smiled as the boy ran into his arms, clinging on to him.

"Find any new terra's on the map?" The man asked. Aerrow gasped. He kept a map in his room, a large one that showed all of Atmos.

"No." The boy said, hanging his head.

"It's all right. You'll find some more." The man said. The dog came bounding up and started licking the boy's face. 'My dog used to do that.' Aerrow thought.

"Go wash up, baby." The woman said, and urged the little boy toward a hall.

"All right." The boy said and he ran down the hall. Aerrow fallowed. The boy ran into a bathroom but Aerrow turned to his left, and froze. His room. His old room. His bed, his toys, his pictures…everything. He remembered that the bathroom was always to the left of his old room. Tears ran down Aerrow's eyes. This was his home terra. This was his old home. He was looking into his old room. The little boy was him. The husky was his old dog Marley. That was his family portat. And…and those were his parents. He really sobbed now. The little boy ran out of the bathroom, with Marley at his heels…but Aerrow didn't fallow. He fell on his knees and sobbed. So this is what she did. This is what Cyclonis did! She ruined his home, killed his parents and dog, and left him with nothing. He put his head in his hands and sobbed. Just sobbed.

"Aerrow! AERROW!" He heard people yelling. He lifted his head to find Piper, Finn, Junko, Radarr, and Stork running toward him. The town was destroyed again, and he was still cluching the picture. But he was sitting where he started to cry. Right in front of his room. He was back on Baltamore. Piper squatted by him and wrapped her arms around him.

"What's wrong dude?" Finn said.

"I'm home." Aerrow whispered.

"What?" Junko asked. Aerrow couldn't speak anymore. He handed Piper the picture. She looked at it and gasped. She flipped it around and read:

"Susan, Dylan, Aerrow, and Marley….it's a picture of Aerrow's family." Piper said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Aw, man." Finn said, his eyes downcast.

"So, this is Aerrow's home terra?" Junko asked.

"Yes. Yes Junko it is. And we're sitting right in front of my room." Aerrow said. Even Stork started to cry. Piper and Finn hosted Aerrow up.

"I also saw my parents." Aerrow whispered.

"What?" Piper asked.

"I picked up the picture when I came over here. I blinked and when I opened my eyes, it was like I went back in time. The town was standing and there was people everywhere. It was like I was replaying a time in my childhood. " Aerrow said.

"Okay. Now that's creepy." Finn said. They all walked over to their skimmers and shot off into the sky.

**Okay…now that is what I call rushed. But I just had to get that all in the first chapter. Cuz' this is going to be a long story people! Thanks to all who read and review!~crystalshake**


	2. Chapter 2

"It was his home?! I knew it was a bad idea to send all you out there!" Lilyan said.

"Now, now, Lily. How is he, Piper?" Matt asked.

"Better." Piper said. They were sitting in the living room, and everyone else was asleep. "At first it was hard on him but now I think all he wants is revenge."

"Well I would! I would want Cyclonis dead if she did anything to this town!" Matt said.

"Oh, would you?" A voice said. They whipped around the find Cyclonis and a WHOLE LOT of men, including Dark Ace, standing behind her. "Because this was the next one I was going to hit."

"Aerrow! Finn! Junko! Stork! Radarr! We've got a problem!" Piper yelled. They all came running out and stopped when they saw Cyclonis. Aerrow's face went from shocked to utterly mad. He let a roar, took out his energy blades, and launched himself at Cyclonis. Finn and Junko caught him by the arms.

"Dude! We don't know what she wants!" Finn said.

"I don't care!" Aerrow sheeted.

"I see you've seen Baltimore. I really did have fun in destroying that one." Cyclonis said. Aerrow growled again, but Finn and Junko held him back.

"Easy Aerrow." Piper said and placed a hand on his shoulder. That seemed to calm him down. He put his energy blades away but he looked ready to rip Cyclonis limb from limb.

"I just came to give you all a warning now. If you don't evactuate, I'll be forced to tear town the terra with you on it." Cyclonis said.

"Like you would wait for us to get out of here!" Junko said.

"Your right. I wouldn't." Cyclonis said, and they heard a jumble of buildings fall.

"Why you!" Piper yelled. She made her way toward Cyclonis but Aerrow grabbed her. No matter how much he wanted to kill her right now, he knew that they had to save Piper's terra first.

"She's not worth it Piper. Well, at least not right now." Aerrow said.

"Well, I doubt you can stop me anyway so I'm just going to let you go." Cyclonis said. "But first…"

She brought out a blue crystal and pointed it at them. A blue light shot from the crystal and into Piper, sending her into the wall. Cyclonis chuckled and left without a word.

"PIPER!" Aerrow said and ran toward her.

"I'm fine. That was an attack crystal. It won't do any lasting harm. But I won't be fighting that's for sure." Piper said. Aerrow helped her up and she leaned against her shoulder. Lilyan looked relived and Matt had a sly smile on his face. They ran outside and saw buildings burning and falling. Piper started to get tears in her eyes.

"Stay here, Piper." Aerrow said, and him and the rest of the hawks made their way toward the wreakage. Matt walked up to his daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"So. That Aerrow boy is pretty nice, huh?" He asked.

"Yeah. He's really cool. He's the only civilized boy in our whole squadron. Most of the time." Piper said.

"And you like him?" Matt asked. Piper looked up at her father then asked,

"How so?"

"Like, as just friends…or boyfriend girlfriend?" Matt asked.

"JUST FRIENDS!" Piper said.

"Well, if you ever decide differently…then just know I like him. He's the only boy I'd probably let you date." Matt said.

"Dad!" Piper said, putting her head in her hands. Matt chuckled and straightened.

**Meanwhile…**

"There is no way we're getting rid of all of these dudes!" Finn yelled.

"We have to try!" Junko yelled back. Aerrow didn't answer. He was too busy beating the living crap out of everybody. He glanced up and saw a green crystal revoling on a base. Many talons were guarding it. He remembered something that Piper had once told him.

"Green crystals, like these, are energy crystals. You can power anything with them." She had said.

"Anything." Aerrow whispered. "FINN! Shoot that green crystal! Then the power will be shut off! (well, couldn't' fit all those skimmers on there could they?)

"But then there's no way we can make them leave!" Finn shouted back. All Aerrow did was push one off the edge of the terra. Finn chuckled and Junko howled with laughter. Finn raised his bow and shot a perfectly aimed shot at the crystal. It hit, and all the main travel ships shut down. (Didn't they use power crystals?) They boys started hitting anyone, that was a talon, off the terra. And Stork helped by pushing some of the ships off with the condor. Soon the terra was silent. And all that stood were Cyclonis and Dark Ace.

"This isn't over, Storm Hawks!" Dark Ace yelled. They hopped on their skimmers and zoomed off. People started coming out from their hiding place, clapping. Their cheering got louder and louder as more and more people showed up. Piper ran up to them and jumped onto Aerrow.

"Thank you!" She said.

"Hey, it's all in a day's work." Aerrow responded. They crowded back into Piper's little hosue.

"Maybe we should get out of here." Piper said. Aerrow and her parents just looked at her.

"Why?" Finn asked.

"We'll keep a look out on the terra but since Cyclonis came here herself…something must be up. And we have to find out what it is. And we won't be able to do that here." Piper said.

"She's right. We pack up and leave as soon as we can." Stork said.

"That's probably for the best. We'll call you if we see or hear anything." Matt said.

"Be careful." Lilyan said.

"I know." Piper said. They all packed up their things, and after a good bye, made their way up into the sky. Aerrow sat at the table just staring. Piper came up behind him and put a hand on his back.

"I know how much that hurt you. And I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do." She said.

"No." Aerrow said.

"What?" Piper asked.

"I don't want anybody feeling sorry for me. I don't even want to feel sorry for myself. Feeling sorry for yourself is just a sign of weakness. Well, that's what my grandpa used to say." Aerrow said and stood up, turned around, and took Piper's hand. "I promise I'll help you look after your terra. If you promise not to feel sorry for me."

"I promise." Piper said. **(A/N. Okay…I know I started out in third person and probably should keep in third person…but this is just an opperotinaty I just can't miss! There will be other times as well. Please don't hate me for this!)**

**Piper's POV**

I couldn't believe it. He was saying for me not to feel sorry for him?! That's impossible right now! I stared up into his dancing green eyes and forced myself to smile. He smiled back. That perfect, dazzleing smile. Now that I mentioned it, his body was curved at all the right places. His hair was the same color of the fire I used to have every night in my fireplace back home. Oh my god. Was I hitting on him! I was! Now I know what my dad was talking about. He nodded and walked off. I watched after him and sat on the couch. I sat there for a while until I heard a skimmer land in the entry unit.

**Aerrow's POV**

I hated walking away from her. She was just…perfect. Her voice, her smile, her body…everything! Aw, man! I was crushing on her! Just perfect! My home was destroyed, I'm a wreck, and now I'm crushing on Piper! What else could go wrong! Well, that last one isn't wrong. Is it? God! What's wrong with me!? I only knew one thing…I loved Piper. That was the biggest one. I really loved her. I didn't know if she loved me at all though. She probably didn't. With my luck she'll end up with Finn. Ugh. Now, that's a scary thought. I was about to lock myself in my room when I heard a skimmer land in the entry unit.

**Piper's POV**

Who was here? Why was he or she here? I got my weapon ready and Finn and Junko were right behind me. I saw Aerrow come out from the hallway, his energy blades out. I was about to pounce when I saw Starling come through the doorway. We all relaxed and Aerrow went up to her.

"Hey Starling. What brings you here?" He said. God, I loved his voice too!

"Well, two things. One, I heard about your loss Aerrow. I'm so sorry." She answered, and put a hand on his shoulder. For some reason, I started to get angry. Okay, I'll admit it. I was jeloues. She better not hit on him!

"Second, there's talons coming this way. They didn't really like being pushed off that terra." Starling said. Aerrow chuckled.

"Bring them on." Finn said.

"Yeah. And this time…we'll push them off the condor!" Junko said.

"You could. But it's a bigger number than it was on the terra. We'll mostly be fighting in the air." Starling said.

"Their army can get any bigger!? Did you see all of them on that terra!" Finn exclaimed.

"Look for yourself Finn." Starling said and guestered out the window. Finn looked out…and gasped. There was about double…no…triple the number that was on the terra coming our way.

"Starling, Finn and I will fight in the sky. Junko, Piper, and Stork will stay here." Aerrow said. What!? He's leaving me here!

"What?" I said. But Aerrow just went over to Junko and whispered something to him. All I heard was, "the best you can. Please." I wonder what that meant.

**Aerrow's POV**

I walked over to Junko and whispered, "Keep Piper safe. The best you can. Please." And then I walked off, leaving Junko confused. And Piper looking at me like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. I turned back and mouthed to Junko… "That's an order." He nodded. I looked over at Piper.

"What!" She said.

"We might need your crystals here on the condor. And you're the only one who knows how to use them." I lied. I didn't want her up there. I wouldn't have minded maybe last week but now…there was no way I was putting her in danger. She gave me her perfect pouty face and said,

"Fine"

I chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me. Her hazel eyes burning through my mind. That was my goal now. To keep her safe.

"Just be careful." I said, and fallowed Finn and Starling out the door. I hopped on my skimmer and lead the way. I whipped out my energy blades, and Finn raised his bow. Starling took out something like a whip and held it at her side. Dark Ace saw us and stood on his skimmer.

"Three against maybe a million! Are you serious. This won't take long!" He yelled. I heard the cannons on the condor set, and loaded. Oh, Junko. He never can wait to bring out the big guns can he?

"ATTACK!" Dark Ace yelled, and we were bambared with talons. Starling was almost knocked off her skimmer right away.

"HEY! Don't mess with her!" I heard Finn yell and he shot an arrow right in the talons chest. Oh my god. Finn liked Starling! Now that's funny. We took out maybe…a couple. There were too many. I signaled to Junko. I could hear the cannon fire. It took maybe um……..1/100 of them.

"There's too many!" I exclaimed. Starling shouted something back, but I wasn't listening. I was looking, wide eyed down at the condor. Dark Ace was getting back on his skimmer. Piper over his shoulder.

**Piper's POV**

I watched as he shot off into the sky, Finn and Starling behind him. Junko was already loading the cannons as if he knew Aerrow would signal for them. Stork was trying his best to shake off some of the talons. But it just wasn't enough. I hoped Aerrow would go to drastic measures. I didn't want him to get hurt. I saw Dark Ace stand up on his skimmer, say something and laugh, then he hopped back down and yelled something else. Oh, dear. That was a lot of talons. Aerrow signaled for Junko and Junko sent out a cannon. Took out about….1/100 of them. Nobody, not even me, saw or heard Dark Ace land on the condor.

"Hello my princess." I heard him say, and I blacked out.

**Aerrow's POV**

"Piper!" I heard Junko yell.

"Nooooooooooo!" I yelled and dove down. There was no way, NO WAY, I would let him get her. I took him by surprise. I whacked him upside the head and he fell off his skimmer and Piper went flying. I caught her before she could roll off. I landed and brought her inside. Then I went and took on the one person I wanted to kill right now.

"Well. A little protective of Piper are we Aerrow?" He said.

"You stay away from her. You hear me?" I spat.

"So you're the judge of where Piper wants to go?" Dark Ace said.

"She doesn't want to go with you I know that." I said.

"How do you know that?" He said.

"I just do." I spat and threw myself at him. It went on and on until I had him by the neck, holding him over the edge.

"You should have heard her Aerrow! She said she wanted to get away from where she was. She told me herself. She wants me Aerrow! Not you! Just live with it! Just let her go! She doesn't want you." Dark Ace spat. No. I…wasn't about to believe him. She wouldn't say that? Would she? I felt tears fall down my face…and I dropped him. A talon caught him under. I didn't care. I just walked back into the condor.

**Piper's POV**

I woke up to Aerrow looking down at me.

"Aerrow!" I said. He just looked sadly down at me. "Aerrow what's wrong?"

I heard him whisper something but I didn't hear him.

"What?" I said.

"Did you want to go with him?" He asked.

"Go with who?" I asked.

"Dark Ace. He said you wanted to go with him. He said that you said you wanted to get away from where you were. He said…he said that you loved him." Aerrow said and more tears fell from his face. Why that no good, dirty lieing scoudle! I sat up and put a hand on Aerrow's face.

"Aerrow. I never want to leave. I certatly didn't want to go with him. I positively…absoulutly…don't love him! Eww! He lied to you Aerrow. And you know better than to listen to him." I said. Aerrow looked up at me and smiled.

"Good. Because if you did love him…I would have to put my foot down." He said. I laughed A sense of humor too. How much better can he get?

"Where did the talons go?" I asked, looking around and then outside. They were all gone.

"After I dropped Dark Ace, they realized that they caused us enough pain for one sitting." He said.

"Enough pain?" I asked and stepped out of my room and into the lobby. I gasped. Junko had cuts and buruses all over him. Finn looked like he had a sprained ankle. And Starling looked like she was about to faint. Stork was breathing heavily and had a huge cut where part of the window shield had broken and sliced into him. I realized that Radarr hadn't gone with Aerrow. He had stayed behind, but still got beat up. I took another look at Aerrow to see his was the same.

"Why didn't anyone get the medical kit out?" I asked. Aerrow, Finn and Junko, Stork, Radarr and even Starling looked sheepish.

"We did. But none of us knew how to use it." Finn admitted. I took one look at all of them, sighed, and went to go the medical kit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Piper's POV**

The boys sat and lay around the Condor. Well…all the boys. Aerrow was still walking around. He now sat at a table with a bunch of papers around him. Well, not actually that many, just a couple. I walked up to him and sat down across from him, holding a cup of coco.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Looking up whatever I can find about Baltimore. This was all I could find. In books, on the Internet, from other teams…everything. And this is the whole thing. Five dang pages." Aerrow threw down the page he was holding and slumped back into his seat, letting out a groan from hitting his fractured leg on the table.

"You really shouldn't be walking…" But he cut me off.

"I know…with my fractured leg and all…but I don't care. I'm going to do whatever it takes to find out what happened on Baltimore." He sighed and stood, wincing.

"Why don't you ask the council? Or maybe I could. I'm in the best of shape and I could go over there and ask if they have anything." I told him. I just wanted him to get some rest. I knew what he had been doing for the past five hours…and I wished for those whole five hours that he would just give up for now. But I should have known better…Aerrow never gave up. Never. He looked at me…frozen solid for a second…but then he unfroze and a smile came to his face. He walked, well, hobbled, over to me and took me in the biggest bear hug I had ever gotten.

"Really?! You would do that for me?!" I swore I could feel the tears streaming down his face falling onto my shoulder.

"Of course. I'll go tomorrow." I told him as he let me go.

"You have no idea what this means to me Piper…if I can do anything…anything…to repay you…please…don't hesitate to ask." And then he was gone. Gone off to bed as surprising the others had too. Stork had put the Condor on auto pilot so I didn't have to worry about the Condor crashing into something. I hoped. I was sitting on the couch, just sipping my coco, when I heard a knock on the door. I looked at the time and it was just…11:00. Who would be calling at this hour? I stood and got my energy staff just in case. I opened the door but no one was there. Just a box. I grabbed it, and brought it inside. It was very light and seemed like there would be nothing in it. But I opened it anyway, because it was addressed to me. I gasped when I saw what was inside…the Aura Stone. And a note. I picked it up and had to hold it pretty close to my face because it was so dark.

**Piper,**

**Look through the Aura Stone to the future. You will be shocked at what you see. But don't worry. I will help you and your team through all of it. The first part is freaky, the second is pretty sweet. Meet me by the main entrance of Terra Neon. I will flag you down.**

And that was it. I was confused by this person, but if they went through all the trouble to get the Aura Stone…well, I just had to check it out. And somehow…this person had made the Aura Stone see my future for them. Odd. I picked up the stone and it started glowing in my hand. I closed my eyes and focused real hard. The darkness underneath my eyelids suddenly exploded into a vision of color and noise. It was a war. Atmos v.s. Cyclonia. And it didn't look like we were doing to well. I saw Finn and Junko first. They were down on the ground groaning. Ravess and Snipe were coming up to them, ready to deliver the final blow. But then suddenly Starling and some other girl came and knocked Ravess and Snipe topside. I had no idea who the girl was, but she was a wallop. Then my vision shifted, and I saw Stork and Radarr fighting. And badly losing. They were down on their last legs as well. And then the same thing happed to them. Another merb and another…well, whatever Radarr was, came and saved them. What was going on? Who were they? My vision shifted one last time and it was on Aerrow and I. We were doing a bit better than the others…but not great. We had just finished off some cyclonians when I got knocked down on the back of my head. Aerrow didn't take to kindly to that. He took care of twenty other cyclonians single handed. He straightened himself, looking confident. He looked over toward me and looked like he was about to run over…when Cyclonis hit him from behind. He fell, and that's where that part of the vision ended.

The second part was much happier than the first. There was large house, much larger than my own parent's house. It looked like it was by the city hall of some terra. And as my vision shifted around the terra, I gasped when I realized that it was Baltimore. The vision settled on the house and I saw all of us. Aerrow, Finn, Junko, Radarr, Stork and I. But there were also others. Like Starling, and the wallop, merb and...Well let's just call Radarr a small dog for now…and the small dog that had saved Junko, Stork and Radarr in the first part of the vision. **(A/N/ yes…I don't know what Radarr really is. If you know could you please tell me! I'm just going to call him a small dog for now then…)**

And there were more…but they were smaller than us. Children. There were two wallops. One, a small boy, maybe seven…eight possibly. The other was an infant little girl. Another two were playing tag. They looked like twins. A boy and a girl. They both had blonde hair, blue eyes, and had bows strapped to their backs. Two others, a boy and girl, were merbs. And then there were about seven little dogs running around. And then there were three others. One infant that I myself was bouncing on my lap. It was a girl and she had my midnight blue hair that already went down to her small waist. I was talking to Aerrow at a picnic table while Finn probably burned hamburgers in the grill. Suddenly a boy ran up to us, panting and smiling. What I noticed…he looked…exactly…like…Aerrow…now that's not weird. A girl came next and she looked like she would be the oldest, around fourteen. She had midnight blue hair that went just below her shoulders. But at the ends of her hair, she had streaks of Aerrow's red hair. What was all this? I had somewhat of a hunch…but I didn't want to admit it. Suddenly the Aura Stone gave and I was snapped back into reality.

"Whoa." I muttered. I quickly put the stone back into the box and brought it into my room. Then I fell on my bed and fell asleep quickly.

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**Aerrow's POV**

I woke up and stretched. My leg ached and my head pounded. I needed a vacation. I walked out of my room to find that Finn and Junko were making waffles. And thankfully not burning them for once. Though it looked like they were putting their whole minds into not letting them burn. And still they looked a little brown.

"Good morning." I said loudly. Finn jumped five feet into the air and Junko almost fell down. I laughed but Finn and Junko just glared at me. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing. I just don't like being scared." Finn said.

"More like you don't want to admit that Aerrow scared the wits out of us." Junko laughed. Finn smiled.

"No…" But Junko and I raised an eyebrow. "Okay! Yes."

"I knew it." I heard Junko mutter and put some waffles on the table. Stork was flying the plane and Radarr was stumbling around the Condor looking tired. The one person I didn't see…was Piper.

"Where's Piper?" I asked them.

"Right here." A voice said. Piper came around the corner, holding a large stack of papers.

"Hey! What have you been doing! We haven't seen you all morning!" Finn exclaimed.

"I was picking up some things." Piper said and walked past me. But as she did, she handed me the stack of papers. I looked at the first page. It said…

**Terra Name: Baltimore**

I almost gasped out loud. Piper had actually did it. I didn't think she would find time…but she really did it. I looked at her with tears almost filling my eyes. She winked at me. After we were finished with breakfast I just went up to her and gave her a hug.

"It took me a while, but I convinced them to give it too me." She told me.

"Well, anything you want. Just name it and I'll give it to you." I confirmed. She thought for a moment and then smiled.

"What about a vacation on Terra Neon?" She asked. I was shocked by her answer…she really didn't like Terra Neon as far as I was concerned. But I nodded.

"Sure." I told her. Finn and Junko popped their heads around the corner.

"Did we hear right? Are we really taking a vacation to Terra Neon?" Finn excitedly asked.

"Yes Finn. We are." I stated.

"Whoo how!" Finn yelled and ran to his room to probably grab some weird things…things I didn't want to know about.

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**Aerrow's POV**

Terra Neon was packed as usual. Finn and Junko were quickly gone, lost in the roller coasters and games. I shook my head and turned to ask Piper why she wanted to come here, but I saw her running through the crowd in another direction. I suddenly became suspicious. She wanted to come here for a reason. And I was going to find that reason out. So I followed her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Aerrow's POV**

I followed Piper until she came to a dead stop in front of a large tent. I've been to Terra Neon plenty of times…but this tent wasn't familiar to me. I watched her as she took one quick look around, to make sure no one was watching her probably, and then ran inside. I knew better than to just barge in, so I quietly snuck to the doorway and listened.

**Piper's POV**

I quickly looked around to see that no one was watching me. I had seen him wave to me and motion for me to follow him. He was wearing a black cloak so I couldn't clearly see him. But he led me to this tent, so I drove straight through the doorway.

There wasn't much in the tent. Just a table with six chairs around it. There was a large map sprawling across the table and, on an instinct, I went to go examine it.

"Like maps, huh?" A voice said behind me. I whirled around to see the man in black standing there.

"Who are you? Are you the one who sent me the Aura stone?" I asked. He nodded.

"I suppose you want to see what I actually look like?" He asked me. I quickly nodded. He looked really creepy with that cloak on. But suddenly, he threw it off, and I got to look at him completely and clearly. He was in his teens around 18, like me. He looked about Aerrow's height and had brown hair that stuck up everywhere. His eyes were a dark blue. He had two long energy swords strapped to his back in an X. But what shocked me the most…was that he was wearing a squadron uniform.

"What –" I began, but he cut me off.

"I know what your wondering. What squadron do I belong to?" He gestured to his uniform. I nodded.

"I'm from the Raven squadron. Ever hear of them?" He asked, looking up into my face. I actually had heard of them…briefly. But it was only in a history book I was reading for fun in the Atmos library. It only said that they had fallen in a battle.

"Yes, I have." I answered, when I realized that I hadn't answered his question.

"Well, you know our history?" he asked.

"All I know is that your squadron fell in battle." I answered.

"Yes, that's true. But two of us survived. Everyone else thought we all died, so they let our squadron name be used by some other squadron." He whispered bitterly.

"Well, I don't know any other squadron with the name Raven. So I think you're safe." I laughed, trying to make a joke out of things. But all of what he said sank in.

"Two of you? Another one survived?" I asked. He looked up at me, smiled slightly, and nodded. Suddenly, he motioned for someone to come up. I turned, and found someone else standing there, in the same black cloak that the man had just thrown off moments ago.

"You really should take better care of your clothes." The figure said. It was a woman's voice. She bent down to pick up his cloak, and laid it over a chair.

"Take yours off. Let her see you." The man ordered.

"Fine." The woman snapped. She silently took off her cloak and lay across the chair with the man's. She was a little taller than me, and had black hair that went to the middle of her back. Silver eyes penetrated me and I backed up a little. She had one long sword strapped to her side in a holster. She was wearing the same squadron uniform as the man.

"Happy?" The woman asked the man. He nodded. I just looked from the woman to the man and back again. The man chuckled.

"I suppose you still don't know who we are, do you?" He asked. I shook my head. "My name is Blyane. And this is my girlfriend Kirra." He motioned toward her, and I automatically turned to her. I wished I hadn't. She was glaring at me hatefully. Had I already done something to offend her? "Kirra!" Blyane hissed at her. She broke her gaze on me and looked up at her boyfriend. She twirled around and walked out the back of the tent without another word.

"I'm sorry about her. She's just a little jealous, see?" He shook his head while smiling.

"Why would she be jealous?" I asked.

"She's jealous of you." He stated, and he looked up at me with an expression which made me think that I should know everything all ready.

"Why would she be jealous of me?" I gasped.

"Well one, you are, and please don't hit me, extremely attractive. And even though she's all ready my girlfriend, she can't help thinking that you might try to steal me from her." He laughed. I was appalled. I barely even knew this guy! And his girlfriend thought I was going to try and steal him!?

"And secondly, she's jealous that I used the Aura stone to predict your future instead of hers. She feels less important now." He said. A million questions popped into my head at once.

"Where did you get the Aura stone? How do you use it to predict people's futures? Why did you use it to predict me future? How –" I was silenced by his hand.

"All will be explained in time. Come with me." He motioned with his hand, and he walked out the back of the tent, just like Kirra had. I quickly followed.

**Aerrow's POV**

I was just settling down to listen when I heard a man's voice ask, "Like maps, huh?"

But that was all I heard. Finn tapped me on the shoulder, and then, without waiting, pulled me to my feet.

"Come on' Arrow! We want to show you something!" Finn said, and I quickly tried to get him to quiet down. But instead he pulled me along to show me some stupid ride that was new here at Terra Neon. And all the while he made me ride it time and time again, I was thinking about how I missed my spying chance, and who that man was. I had to get back to the tent, and fast.

**Piper's POV**

I gasped as he led me through the back of the tent. Many more tents were stationed behind it. Funny…I hadn't seen these when I came up to the front of the tent. Blyane grabbed me by the arm, and led me to one of the closer tents. In the tent was Kirra, and about seventeen other people. They were all dressed in the same thing, blue and black battle gear with long spears. Kirra looked up as we entered, and her face was blazed with determination and happiness at seeing her boyfriend. But then she saw me, and Blyane's hand on my arm, and her expression turned to pure hated. Blyane pulled me over and set me down in a chair.

"Behave." He muttered to Kirra. Kirra said something under her breath. No…it sounded more like a growl than words.

"All of you are dismissed." Blyane told the small army. They all nodded and stood.

"We were discussing strategy. You can't stop us from discussing strategy. Sit down." She commanded. The small army sat again.

"I don't like stopping you from discussing strategy…but I can. You know why? I'm of higher order than you. You are all dismissed." He repeated. The small army stood up again and walked out, single file. This time, Kirra did not object. Her face held anger again. But this time, it was toward Blyane.

"You have never, not once, used your higher order to stop me from doing something. Well, not until _she _came here." She spat out 'she' right in my face.

"We have bigger matters do discus. _Piper_ was kind enough to travel all the way here, and I think we owe her an explanation." Blyane said, motioning to a chair.

"There is no way I'm sitting." She snapped.

"Fine." He shrugged and sat himself. I could see how these two would be perfect for each other. Kirra had her firry blaze to her, and Blyane was her fire distinguisher.

"Now, we can tell you everything." Blyane said, looking only at me.

"Okay…" I trailed. I didn't know what else to say. If it were only Blyane and I, I have to admit, I would have been a lot more comfortable. But with Kirra in here, the tension was plain in the air.

"I sent you the Aura stone because I had heard of your squadron's accomplishments. The Storm Hawks. Correct?" He asked. I only nodded. He smiled encouragingly. "I was looking through your records and all of you are quite astonishing. Do you mind if I go down the list?" He asked me.

"Not at all." I had finally found me voice. To my surprise, my words rang out clear. His smile got wider as he opened a large file. I shouldn't have been surprised. I had gotten the file on Baltimore for Aerrow, so I knew there was a file for every terra. So I should've known that there was a file for every squadron.

"Your leader is Aerrow. Red hair, green eyes, around my height. He has two blue energy blades and rides Air Skimmer III Ultra. **(A.N. The skimmer info is actually true. I looked it up on the storm hawks official website.) **Is that all correct?" He looked up at me quickly.

"Yes." I answered. He looked down again and read.

"His accomplish are the ones that knock me off guard. He has fought the Dark Ace plenty of times, even Master Cyclonis on rare occasions. He's the most experienced flyer and fighter. Is that all correct? I'm afraid that isn't much on history for any of you." He said.

"That's all correct." I answered.

"He actually fought the Dark Ace?" Kirra asked, skeptically.

"Yes. My whole team, and many more teams, have watched him. He is the most skilled fighter I know." I glared back at her, surprised at the truth in my words. Aerrow was the most skilled fighter I knew. He was also really sweet, and funny, and always took my feelings into consideration. He was really smart and would never give up on anything or anyone and…oh my god. I'm rambling in side my mind. I noticed that both Kirra and Blayne were looking at me weird. I was actually kind of glad. It was the first expression that Kirra had given me that wasn't full of hate.

"Go on." I told Blyane. He nodded and went on.

"Your sharpshooter is Finn. Blonde hair, blue eyes. A little shorter than me. He has a crossbow and rides an Air Skimmer III." He looked up at me again. I then realized I was supposed to say something.

"That's sounds about right." I mumbled. He nodded and went on. "He a very skilled fighter against cyclonians but his vehicle is the one that gets blown up most of the time." He chuckled at that statement, but went on quickly. "He's known to have a pretty big ego too." Blayne said.

"Oh yeah. That's Finn." I muttered, closing my eyes and shaking my head. When I opened my eyes again, I saw Blayne laughing a bit and Kirra turning away from us. Blayne stopped laughing and turned once again to the file.

"Your muscle is Junko, a wallop. Greenish hair and dark skin. Pretty much taller than me. He has a pair of Knuckle Busters that glow green and rides an Air Skimmer III EL. He can take out at least ten cyclonains at one time but is sweet at heart?" He looked up at me with a weird expression on his face.

"That's Junko; you would never believe that he is really sweet. He's funny too, and he likes to eat. But then again…so does Finn." I mused. Blayne laughed again and went on.

"Your pilot is Stork, a merb. Black hair and green skin. Pretty tall but he's hunched over most of the time. Scared of most things so most people call him paranoid. He only drives the Condor. That all right?" He asked.

"Yep."

"Anything or anyone I missed?" He asked.

"Radarr." I suddenly remembered.

"Radarr?" He asked.

"He's kind of like Aerrow's pet. I don't know where he officially came from; you'd have to ask Aerrow that. He's Aerrow's co-pilot too. He even has is own side car." I chuckled. It only hit me then that I should be freaked out by how much information this file had on us.

"Oh." Was all Blyane said. "Well, now that's out of the way. Let's talk about why you're here. I knew that Master Cyclonis would want revenge on your squadron by your file. So, as I already had the Aura stone in my possession, I made it look into your squadron's future. That's what you saw." He stated.

"But why did you send it to me? Why not Aerrow?" I asked.

"Because I knew that Cyclonis would be watching if Aerrow got anything weird like the Aura stone and a note for him to meet me here. So I sent it to you." He answered.

"Oh." I said. "But why would you care if something happened to us? I still barely know you." I said.

"That's a good question. And I have the answer. Master Cyclonis isn't merciful. You should know that better than anyone. If she wants revenge on one squadron…all of Atmos will fall. Also, you guys are an important squadron. If you go down, there's no telling what will happen to the rest of Atmos. And…I'd hate to see our protectors go down." He finished in a rush.

"Protectors?" I asked.

"The Storm Hawks patrol all of Atmos correct? What squadron would be brave enough to give up guarding their terra and protect all of Atmos if you fell?" He asked.

"Us." Kirra stated.

"No we wouldn't. My father made that deal with Dylan and it's going to stick for generations." He hissed at Kirra, and then he turned back to me. I was about to let him keep going, but then what he said smacked me in the face. Dylan.

"You mean…Dylan…Aerrow's dad?" I asked. Blyane looked at me, surprised, and so did Kirra.

"You know Dylan?"

"Dylan is Aerrow's father. Whose dead now….what kind of promise did your father make with him? I found myself chocking out the words. I had never seen Aerrow in so much pain. I remembered how I couldn't stand watching him as he realized the Master Cyclonis killed both of his parents and his dog.

"My father was also the leader of his squadron. He was very good friends with Dylan. Dylan knew that he would pass on before my father did. And he knew that my father would want to take over his position of protector, to keep his good spirit going. So my father asked Dylan if he could take over his position if he should pass on. Dylan refused. He didn't want my father in that danger." He looked away as if he were remembering something. "The promise was simple. Dylan kept it simple. 'You can remember me in your heart and mind. But you may not take over my duty. That is for my next generation to take over. Do you understand?' And my father did. He accepted and kept that promise. But it was still very hard for him to keep when Dylan died. But he did." Blyane looked up at me, and the understanding was clear in my eyes. "So you see, the new protector of Atmos…is Aerrow."

**I'M AM SOOOO SORRY…THIS TOOK ME SOOOOO LONG TO UPDATE! OMG! Anyway…sorry if that last bit is kind of confusing…I tried my best. Thanks to anyone who will still read this boring story…~Crystalshake**


	5. Chapter 5

**Aerrow's POV**

I stumbled around when it was over. Finn had made me ride that thing 12 times in counting. I was _not_ going on it again.

"Please!? Just one more time!?" He begged.

"You said that five times ago Finn." I muttered, watching the people around us pass by.

"Fine." He finally gave. Now, I thought, as soon as I could stand straight, I have to find Piper. She still hadn't come back and I _had _to know who that man was. Did he kidnap her? Did he hurt her? Did she know he was going to be there? Didn't she know he was going to be there? So many questions in my head, and absolutely no answers. I quickly slipped away while Finn and Junko were arguing about which color of cotton candy to get. Personally, I don't know how either of them could eat after being on that ride 12 times. I ran back to the tent and found, thankfully, that no one was around it. I was about to enter…when somebody came out.

**Piper's POV**

Blayne escorted me back to the first tent. When we entered through the back, I turned to face him.

"So, if Aerrow's the new protecter…what does that make us? His squadron?" I asked.

"His team." He answered quickly. So we were still the same. In some ways…I was quite glad. "Oh, and Piper?" I looked up when he said my name. He looked kind of embarrassed but serious all the same.

"Don't tell anyone about this okay?" He asked.

"All right," I answered reluctantly. How could I keep this secret from the boys. Espissally Aerrow. I sighed.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing." I lied. He nodded. He walked me to the front enterance. After I had walked out the tent, I turned to face him.

"Blayne?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said.

"Thank you." I whispered and then turned and walked away. I thought I heard him chuckle. I didn't look back as I walked. Right now, I was looking for one of the guys.

"Piper?" I heard a voice asked. I turned and saw Aerrow standing there, leaning against a large pole.

**Aerrow's POV**

I heard Piper whisper something to someone else in the tent and then leave. I followed her for a little bit before confronting her. So it didn't look like I was really following her. After I thought we had gone a far enough distance I stood up in eyesight, still behind her, and leaned against a hearby pole.

"Piper?" I asked. She quickly turned around and her face had a shocked expression on it when she saw me. But she quickly regained herself.

"Aerrow? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Nothing. Just leaning against a pole. So where did you go? I lost sight of you as soon as we got here." I lied. Well, actually, it wasn't a complete lie…

"Oh, well, I had just been so excited to be here, so I quickly ran off to go do lots of stuff!" I could tell she was lieing through her teeth. But I saw the anxiousness in her eyes and decided if it was something she wanted to tell, she would tell me when she was ready. So, painfully, I decided to let it go…for now. I smiled and walked toward her.

"So, are you ready to leave?" I asked her. Her face relaxed.

"Yes." She sighed. I smiled and grabbed her elbow.

"Come on. Let's go find the other crazy hawks." She laughed and let me pull her along.

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**On Condor**

I landed with a loud thud on my bed. I hated lying to all the boys, but I had too. I sighed and carefully slid the Aura stone out from under my bed twirling it in my hands. If that was really going to happen…then let it happen. I sat up and stared toward the wall. We could handle it. We were the Storm Hawks. And nothing could stop a hawk when it dove into the middle of the storm.

**Finn's POV**

I tried sneaking into Piper's room for about the fifth time now. Again, she yelled at me to get out and leave her alone. She had been in there all day. After we got back from Terra Neon she said she was really tired and retreated to her room…and she hasn't come out. I know I'm not the only one wondering. Junko tried twice to get into her room with me. Stork kept passing by her door, looking like he was going to go in and talk to her, but then he chickened out. Aerrow was fidgeting and glanced at her door every five minutes. He seemed the most stressed as any of us.

"Finn?" A voice asked down the hall. I turned.

"Yeah, Aerrow?" I asked.

"Can you come to the foyer please?" He sounded tired.

"Sure," I didn't want to question him now. "Do you want me to get Piper?"

"No." He said too quickly. Then he walked away. I followed, taking one last look at Piper's door before I turned the corner. When I entered the foyer, everyone else was all ready there. I sat down next to Junko and looked up at Aerrow, who was the only one standing.

"I need to tell you guys something…" he started, and then he launched into this whole long story about Piper, a tent, and some guy. It sounded insane. At first I thought that Aerrow was pulling my chain…but after seeing and watching his face as he told the story…I thought again.

"Seriously?" Junko asked when he had finished.

"Seriously." Aerrow stated.

"Dude…" I trailed.

"This could be really bad. The guy could be a masked murderer! Or maybe he's part of Cyclonia and he's a spy!" Stork worried aloud.

"No! Piper would never meet a spy from Cyclonia." Aerrow said.

"But what if she didn't know he was a spy? What if he lied to her, saying that he was like her long lost cousin or something?" I asked. Aerrow opened his mouth to retort, but then thought about it. He knew that I might be right. Sweet…I'm usually never right.

"Maybe." Was all he said. After that, Stork, Junko and I went into this whole conversation about who the man could be. Aerrow didn't join. I saw Radarr try to get his attention by hopping on his shoulder and bringing him an apple. But Aerrow refused to eat it. Looking defeated, Radarr took off to Aerrow's room. I put a hand on his shoulder. Finally, he looked up.

"Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out. Who knows, maybe Piper will tell us herself." I said.

"Maybe." He said again, and looked back toward the metal that was our floor.

**Piper's POV**

I decided I'd spent enough time in my room. I stood up and walked out the door. I was about to enter the foyer when I heard Finn say something that stopped my footsteps.

"Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out. Who knows, maybe Piper will tell us herself." He said.

"Maybe." I heard Aerrow reply. Crap! He did notice! I hung my head and went toward the kitchen instead. I was casueing Aerrow worthless pain. He wanted to know what happened…and I couldn't tell him. I knew he was just worried about me. The truth was, I was worried about all of us. We all had to keep in the best of shape if we wanted to overcome the upcoming future. I jumped when I heard the kitchen door open.

"Piper?" A wheezy voice asked.

"Stork?" I asked as I turned. Yep. Stork. At least it wasn't Aerrow. I didn't think I could handle him right this moment.

"You've finally crawled out of your room huh?" He asked, walking to the fridge.

"Yes." I retorted. He just rolled his eyes and walked out again once he had a sand which. I finished making my PBJ and walked out to the bridge. I looked over the railing at all the passing white clouds. They looked so peaceful, so brilliant. Then why, was I feeling so anxious and scared? Oh yeah…I was told that our future is about to get really nasty that's why. I sighed and finished my PBJ. I don't what tomorrow would hold. But if it was anything like today…I really could wait.


	6. Chapter 6

**Condor, Aerrow's POV**

BANG!

I shot up in bed, the loud noise echoing through my ears. I strained to hear it again.

BANG!

There! There it was again! I quickly got out of bed, not bothering to put my shirt on, and walked out into the hallway.

BANG! BANG!

Two this time…it sounded like it was coming from the kitchen. I crept silently toward the foyer. Once I was inside the foyer I heard it again. This time louder. And definitely from the kitchen.

BANG!

I crouched down, took a deep breath, and launched myself into the kitchen. I landed on top of someone, but I couldn't see who. Was it the Dark Ace? Snipe? Ravess?

"Ouch! Aerrow! Get off of me!" A voice said from under me. Finn?

"Finn?" I asked, puzzled.

"Yes it's me you idiot! Now get off!" He said and gently threw me off of him.

"Sorry…those bangs made it sound like it was a robber or something."

"A robber? Up in the sky?" He looked at me like I was crazy. But then he thought about it. And then nodded.

"What are you banging around in here for anyway?" I asked.

"It's Starling's birthday tomorrow and I wanted to make her a birthday cake! I'm going to bring it over to her right away in the morning, before she makes her rounds." Finn smiled as he said this. I smirked.

"I knew it." I said.

"Knew what?"

"You like Starling." I stated. He froze, and the spatula he was using fell out of his hand. He turned to glare at me.

"I do not!"

"You do too."

"Do not!"

"Do too!

"Do not!"

"Do too!

"Oh yea? Well, you like Piper!" Finn stated, pointing the chocolate covered spatula at me. I stared at him. The truth was…he was right. I _did_ like Piper. I opened my mouth to retort, but then I thought about it. Why should it be a secret? Of course, I wouldn't tell Piper…at least…not yet. But I could tell Finn. Couldn't I?

"You're right." I said at last.

"Yes you do! I've seen the way you…wait…what?" He looked at me like I was speaking in a different language.

"I said that you were right. I do like Piper." I repeated, and looked toward the ground, crossing my arms.

"You do? Well, I was just joking…but it's good to know," he froze and then smiled. "Are you planning on asking her out any time soon?"

"No!" I gasped.

"Well you should! I'm not trying to freak you out or anything, but she is an attractive young woman. Who knows when some guy may come along and likes her? I bet he wouldn't be scared to go and ask her out." He teased.

"Very funny!" I snapped. He laughed a bit, but then his face became serious.

"But I'm not completely joking dude. If someone likes her, they'll probably act right away. And if you already know you like her…then you better make your move. And soon." He stated, and started washing out the bowl. I thought about for a minute. Of course they're would be men that would just be passing through and see Piper, meet her, and fall in love with her. I mean…that's what happened to me wasn't it? And then…what if she said yes to one of them? She would be with them…and not me.

"Fine." I said suddenly, making Finn jump a bit. "I'll _see_ if I can work my courage up to ask Piper out…only if you do the same thing with Starling." I smirked at him. He looked appalled. But then he hung his head in defeat.

"Fine. But I'm not making any promises." He stated. He put the cake in the oven and set the time. I nodded and was about to make my way back to my bed when he called me back.

"Aerrow? Have you ever thought about the future?" He asked, leaning against the table.

"Not really. Why?"

"You know, I don't mean like…Atmos's future…I mean…_our_ future. Like getting married and even having children." Finn looked up into my eyes, and I knew he wasn't joking. He was actually thinking about this. I knew that no sky knight, or anybody in any squadron, had gotten married since they've been defending Atmos. They just didn't have enough time and patience. But if they did…things would be a lot different. I thought about my future for just a second. If I got married, of course I would be overjoyed. But then I would worry about my wife almost every second, and I wouldn't be able to concentrate on my work. But, I would have the love of my life with me everyday. And, hopefully, we would never break apart. I thought about Piper and I having that kind of relationship one day and suddenly had more interest in the subject. Thinking about that made me think of the other thing that Finn mentioned. Children. Some people say that they're slimly creatures that just make everything worse. Others say that they're a gift from heaven. I personally agree with the heaven one. Sure they would be hard to take care of, but you have the pride in knowing that they were _your _children. But…then you would have to make sure they were protected every living second and that they didn't do anything stupid or get into anything stupid.

Man…I was thinking too much.

"Aerrow?" Finn asked. I was snapped out of my thinking by Finn's voice.

"Huh, what?" I stuttered.

"What do you think? Do you think that getting married and having children could ever be a possibility for us? The Storm Hawks?" Finn asked, his eyes sad. I could tell that he actually did want to get married and have some kids of his own. And I did too. I smiled slightly and said,

"Yes Finn. I think that could be a big possibility for us."

And then I walked down the hall, and climbed back into bed.

**Condor Piper's POV**

I walked out into the foyer and saw Stork at the controls.

"Hey Stork." He jumped a bit.

"Hey…hey Piper." He stuttered. I shook my head and headed toward the kitchen, I was starving. I was about the open the door when someone else came out the other way. I was lucky I stopped dead fast, or else I would have ran head first into Junko.

"Oops! Sorry Piper." He grinned apologetically.

"It's all right Junko. What have you got there?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just a fresh recipe for my Squid tacos!" He announced. I gulped down my throw up and then turned to face him.

"Isn't it a little early to make tacos?" I asked.

"Not for me! Want one?" He asked and grabbed one off his plate. It looked like a normal taco on the outside, with the shell. But the inside…was moving. I decided not to take any further examination.

"No thanks. I'll…I'll just have some toast." I said, holding my hands up.

"Suit yourself." He muttered and threw the whole taco in his mouth. "Yum!" He said, still chewing and walked out into the hallway. I shuddered once and entered the kitchen. Aerrow was sitting at the table looking blankly at some papers. I noticed that the papers were out of the Baltimore file I got from the council. He didn't notice me enter.

"Hey, Aerrow!" I announced. He looked up.

"Hey, Piper." He said dully, and then looked back at the papers again. He seemed really down.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him, pouring myself a glass of milk.

"What? Oh yeah, everything's okay." He said, grabbing a different paper off to the side. I knew that something was up, and I was worried that it had something to do with what happened on Terra Neon. But he seemed more down then yesterday.

"Is something about those paper's bothering you?" I asked. He glanced up at me sadly, and looked at me for a minute. But then he shook his head.

"No, no." He muttered. I was completely puzzled. All I wanted to do was help him. I looked at him sadly. My hand reached out automatically to touch him, stroke his face, play with his head, anything. But I wrenched it back. It wouldn't help to let him know that I had more than usual interest in him. I loved him, that was fact now. With his fiery hair and emerald eyes. Just everything about him…just…drew me in.

Someone slamming the kitchen door open made me break my stare at Aerrow and look toward the door. It was Finn.

"Aerrow! Can I talk to you?" He glanced at me. "Alone?"

"Sure." Aerrow stood and walked out the door with Finn. They both just let me stand there, being more confused then ever.

**Aerrow's POV**

"What?" I asked, still down. He put his hands on his hips and glared at me.

"Well what's got your tighty whiteys all pulled into a bunch huh?" He asked me.

"It's just…it's…hard to be around Piper now. All I think about when I see her is how beautiful she is, and makes me sad how I could never really deserve her." I finished in a rush. I had been thinking, again, of that last night and decided that that might be true. He looked at me like I had just swallowed three of Junko's squid tacos.

"You think she doesn't deserve you? Aerrow, if we were even going to _think_ of using 'doesn't deserve me' in a sentence, the girl would be saying it about you. They would say that they didn't deserve _you_." Finn pointed at me for the last part.

"Yes, but Piper isn't a normal girl! She's much more than that, and she…she has the guts to say no." I ended in a whisper. Finn opened his mouth to retort, but then he actually thought about it, and glanced toward the kitchen once more, where I rudely left Piper. Suddenly, he nodded.

"Maybe your right…but you can't say there's no chance that she'll say yes." He stated. He was right. Maybe she would surprise me. She always did. I smiled and was about to walk away, when I remembered something.

"Oh, what did you want to talk to me about Finn?" I asked. His face lit up in recognition.

"Well, you know how I went to go give the birthday cake to Starling this morning?" He asked me. I nodded. "When I got there, she was just getting ready to make here rounds; she was packing up her skimmer. When I got off my own and yelled her name to get her attention, she spun around to see who it was, but when she saw that it was me, her face lit up in happiness. Is that a good sign?" Finn asked, twiddling his hands and looking up at me. Of course it was a good sign! Finn of all people should have known that. He must _really _like her.

"Yes Finn. Yes that is a good sign." I answered with a sigh.

"Yes! I knew it! Thanks buddy!" He said and ran off. I shook my head and stumbled back into the kitchen to grab my paper's and bring them back to my room. Piper was still there, leaning against the kitchen table. She looked at me curiously, but her face was still masked with concern. I decided I was going to have to put on a show. It'd be a very hard show to put on, but I would have to.

"Hey, Piper." I greeted once more, but I made it a bit more cheerful.

"Hey, Aerrow. Do you need some help with those papers?" She asked me, clearly relieved by my supposedly lightened mood.

"No, I'll get it." As I said this, I accidentally knocked about ten pieces of paper scattering across the floor. "Dang…" I muttered. I heard her giggle a bit. I loved it when she giggled. I turned to smirk at her, and fell right over. She fell over too. The Condor shook uncontrollably and I hurried to grab onto something. Suddenly, the alarm went blazing and I could hear Stork's frightened voice from the foyer.

"We're under attack! We're under attack!" I sprang up from my position and helped Piper. Then we ran out into the foyer; Finn, Junko, and even Radarr coming in from the hallway.

"Everyone okay?" I asked as Radarr climbed up onto my shoulder.

"Yeah." They answered.

"Who's attacking us Stork?" I quickly asked. Stork allowed himself a quick look out the window to see. He looked back quickly and gulped. He turned back to look at us.

"Cyclonians, and they don't look happy." He shuddered. My eyes narrowed.

"Are we ready for this?" I asked. Everyone smirked and nodded. "Stork, Piper and…" Suddenly the door burst open. All of us went into defensive positions, but relaxed when we saw who it was. Well, most of us relaxed.

"Starling! What…what are you doing here?" Finn asked, stuttering.

"Well after you gave me that birthday cake I decided to come and thank you all personally. And, I see now, that you may need my help more than ever." She stated her hands on her hips. Starling was the perfect for the job. She knew how to keep a person safe, and she could most defiantly keep a secret. I didn't realize that the silence was a silence where everyone was waiting for me to say something. I shook my head quickly and motioned for Starling to come closer to me. She did, and I gently grabbed her arm and towed over to the kitchen door. I told her the whole story about how I like Piper and what I was asked her to do. She smiled the whole time, and then nodded.

"Of course. How could I not help you two lovebirds?" She kidded. I rolled my eyes at her. She stole a quick glance at Piper. "And she still has _no_ idea?"

I shook my head.

"Wow…all right, I'll do it." She stated.

"Thanks Starling. I'm still sorry to cut you off from the action in the sky but…I need you down here." I said.

"No problem. Just let the protector do her job." She stated, and then walked away toward the rest of my team. I went up to them and started once again.

"Stork, Piper, and Starling will stay here and defend the Condor. If any cyclonians get on the ship, you two," I motioned at Piper and Starling. "will have to take them out." In the back of my mind, I knew I was really only talking to Starling, but I couldn't make it too obvious.

"Finn, Junko, you're with me. Let's ride to the skies." I said as another rumble shook the condor.

"Okay, if we're under attack from cyclonians, why don't I see any cyclonians in the sky?" Finn asked.

"Actually…I think they're all…below us…" Stork shuddered.

"Let's do this!" Junko said enthusiastically and ran off toward the hanger. Finn soon followed. I allowed myself once last glance at the two women and saw that Starling was reassuring me. I could tell that Piper wasn't happy with staying out of the sky but…but I couldn't risk her. She was just too important to me. I nodded and headed into the hanger.

**Storm Hawks/Cyclonia battle **

**Aerrow's POV**

Junko, Finn and I dove straight down under the Condor, and were shocked at first. There was only ten or twenty cyclonains! But if they're only that many, how could they rock the Condor that badly? Then I saw my answer. Dark Ace swirled around the cyclonians smirking madly. I grimaced.

"Finn, Junko, take the 'henchmen'." I put quotations around henchmen. "I'll take the Dark Ace."

They nodded and sped off. Thankfully, none of them had noticed us yet. I made a beeline toward Dark Ace and took him by surprise. He flying away from me, and once he stopped spinning, he shook his head. He glared up at me.

"Storm Hawk!" He growled.

"Dark Ace." I said simply. He brought out his large energy sword and I brought out my energy blades. The battle went on for a while, but neither of us faltered. But after he released a fair blow to my skimmer, he shot up toward the top of the Condor before I could right myself. I growled slightly and went up after him. When I reached the top, however, his skimmer was no where to be seen. I looked down and my breath almost stopped. His skimmer was parked in our hanger. He was in the Condor.

"No!" I almost screamed aloud. I sped toward the hanger and landed right next to Dark Ace's. I was about to push his off the landing when I heard a loud scream from inside. I sprinted inside. I gasped at what I saw. Stork was still at the controls, but he looked terrible. Cuts and bruises, how did he get all those cuts and bruises in that short little time? I was about to go help him when I saw what was happening in the middle of the foyer. Starling was suspended in midair by a glowing red orb and she couldn't move.

"That's a new trick!" Straling snarled at someone. I looked past her and almost jumped him then and there. Dark Ace was standing there, grinning, with an unconscious Piper in his arms.

"Yes, it is a new trick. Master Cyclonis taught it to me…personally." He laughed a bit. "I'm sure you would just _love _me to teach it to you, but I have somewhere to be."

He laughed again and made his way toward the hanger…with Piper.

Not…a…chance.

I sprang then taking him by surprise. I don't see how he didn't see me. I was standing right there. I gave him a good smack to the face, and his concentration broke. The glowing orb around Starling broke and she fell to the floor. She sprang right back up again and ran toward us. I immediately grabbed Piper from his grasp, while Starling pinned him down. That was twice now that he tried to kidnap Piper. Was there something she had that they wanted? Well, one thing's for sure…they weren't getting her.

**Cyclonia Empire**

**Master Cyclonis's POV**

I heard the door open and close behind me. He had returned.

"I heard of your recent failure to achieve her Dark Ace." I said quietly.

"I'm sorry Master. The sky knight," he said his name with such hate that I just had to smile a bit. "Was _very_ protective of her…as you said." He finished.

"I thought so. Now we know that the sky knight will do anything really to protect her, so now you really _do_ have to kidnap her. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm proud of your recent failure Dark Ace." I could almost hear his astonished expression.

"Thank…thank you Master." He muttered.

"Now go. Leave me alone. I will call when you are needed."

"Yes Master." He said and left. My machine whirled and the crystal I had put in it only moments ago showed in the compartment. White gas swirled around everywhere and there was a picture of the sky knight and the girl. Now I had the people…I just need the future.


	7. Chapter 7

**Aerrow's POV**

I sat in the foyer on the couch, thinking. This whole morning I had been thinking. Once I had confirmed that I _was_ going to ask Piper out, I had to get my courage up. I've been trying all morning, going through what I was going to say, when I was going to do it…not once have I even gotten close. I sighed once and turned over onto my side. How did other men do this? Just trust their instincts and go with the flow? Well, it sure worked with Finn when he was flirting with some random girl. Though, now he's found Starling, and he's already working his way to asking her out. Staring had gone back to her home after the battle, and Finn was over there now, just 'paying her a visit.' I closed my eyes and just thought about how I was going to do it. But then my mind started to wander, and I found myself thinking about Piper herself. Her midnight blue hair, the way her hazel eyes shone in the moonlight. The way she looked when she was in combat, or on her heliscooter, that rush of adrenaline clear on her face. The way her beautiful mind worked, making sure that we didn't run into any terras or anything like that. Even though she wasn't in the room, I could feel my heart pounding. I sighed once more, and then almost rolled off the couch when I heard the door open.

"Aerrow?" I heard her ask.

"Piper! Hey…um…what's up?" I asked stupidly.

"I was just wondering where you were. I…I hadn't seen you for a while." She stuttered. She was looking for me? And nothing important was going on? I stood up and saw her standing awkwardly. I smiled at her. She smiled her brilliant smile back.

"Well…I guess I better get back to my studies. I've got a lot of crystal combinations to go through." Piper quickly waved and was making her way out the door, when I called her back.

**Piper's POV**

"Well…I guess I better get back to my studies. I've got a lot of crystal combinations to go through." I said idiotically. Crystal combinations? Was I really that desperate? I didn't want to leave him. It was just…the timing was so awkward. And I kina ruined the moment when I said I was looking for him for no apparent reason. The stuttering didn't help either.

"Piper?" He called. I turned and stared at him. I almost gasped too. He was blushing madly and he shifted his feet and twirled his hands. "Um…do…do...you…"

"Do I what?" I asked, moving a little closer toward him.

"Do you want lunch? I can make you something." He quickly rushed out. I stepped back.

"Um, no thanks. I'm good. I'll see you later, okay?" I waved again and rushed out the door. Someday, I didn't know when, I would ask him out. I didn't know how he felt about me, but I knew how I felt about him.

**Aerrow's POV**

Do you want lunch!!!???? Am I an idiot!? Yes, yes I am. I so chickened out! She looked so embarrassed! Ugh… I sat down on the couch again and put my head in my hands. I didn't look up when I heard the hanger door open and close.

"Hey, dude! Why the long face?" I heard Finn ask. I looked up at him and sighed.

"I…I tried asking Piper out." I admitted.

"You did?! What did she say!?" He asked, sitting next to me.

"I didn't…exactly…get it out…" I rubbed the back of my neck.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"I got as far as do you…and then I turned it into do you want lunch. How sad is that?" I asked as I put my head in my hands again.

"Don't worry dude. You'll get there." He said, rubbing my back.

"I doubt it…" I really did doubt it. He sighed and lifted my head from the back.

"Never doubt love dude." He said, pointing a finger in his face.

"Why does Aerrow doubt love?" A voice said from behind us. We spun around and found Junko and Stork standing there. Radarr climbed up onto my shoulder too.

"Guess it's time to tell everyone…" I said and launched into the story.

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I stood leaning on the railing, just staring out the window at the clouds.

"If you stand like that much longer, Aerrow, you'll freeze like that." Stork said from the controls.

"That's nice Stork." I muttered. But suddenly I heard the roar of skimmers close by. My head shot up and Stork noticed.

"You heard that too, huh?" He asked.

"Yea. Where is it coming from?" I asked.

"Straight ahead." Stork asked, ducking a bit. I looked out the window and saw about seventeen or eighteen skimmers flying toward us. I pulled down the intercom speaker.

"Everyone get ready for a fight if there is one!" I yelled into it. Soon, the whole team was by my side. We watched as the skimmers drew closer. Soon enough, we could see some features of the riders. I didn't recognize any of them. But I heard Piper draw in a breath. I turned to ask her what was wrong, but then we heard a BEEP on the control panel.

"It's a distress signal. From the skimmers in front of us. Their asking permission to land." Stork stated.

"Their fine. They won't hurt us." Piper stated. I looked curiously at her, but then nodded at Stork. He opened the hanger, and the skimmers crowded in. We all ran in and stopped a couple feet from the nearest skimmer. A man was sitting on it, dressed in a dark black cloak. Piper stepped forward a step. So did I.

"Blyane?" She asked. I looked at her like she was crazy, and then I looked at the man.

"Yes, Piper it's me." The man took down the hood of his cloak and the man was staring down at Piper. He ruffled his brown hair and smiled. "Good to see you again. And this must be Aerrow." He raised his hand toward me and I shook it reluctantly.

"What are you doing here?" Piper asked. Before he could answer, Finn stepped into my rescue.

"How do you and Piper knew each other?" He asked.

"We met on Terra Neon." Piper stated. I held in my gasp. This must be the man she was talking to in the tent! Now that I thought about it, it sounded just like him!

"Oh." Finn said, stepping back.

"And to answer your question Piper, we came here on an impulse. You're squadron is probably the only ones that can help us now." He said glumly. I grimaced.

"Come inside and tell us everything." Piper said, putting a hand on his arm and motioning him forward. I stiffened and glared at the man. He seemed to actually notice.

"Thank you." He said quietly.

"Blayne? Do you mind introducing us?" A voice said from behind him. I turned and I saw a woman walking up to us.

"Oh of course." Blayne said, breaking Piper's grip and risking a glance at me. "This is Kirra, my girlfriend." He said to the rest of my squad. I relaxed instantly. If he already had a girlfriend, he would have no reason to go after Piper. Though…Piper could still love him…

"And this is the rest of our army. That could follow us anyway. Do you mind introducing your friends?" Kirra asked Piper icily. I glared at her. Piper seemed to be stunned a bit.

"Yea, this is Aerrow. That's Finn, Junko, Stork, and Radarr." She said, motioning to each as she said the name. Kirra only nodded. Blayne smiled. "Come in." Piper said and led the way. I was immediately after her. My squad was next and then the rest. Piper sat down first at our large meeting table and offered me a chair next to her, smiling. I smiled back and sat down. Finn sat next to me and Stork on the other side of him. Junko sat on the other side of Piper and Radarr climbed up on my shoulder. The rest of them piled in on the other side.

"So again, what brings you here?" Piper asked, leaning forward.

"Our base was attacked. By Master Cyclonis herself. She was leading the army. Dark Ace was there along with Ravess, Snipe, Repton, and many others. We were lucky we escaped alive. This is all we have with us." He finished. We just stared. Piper spoke first.

"There's not much we can do for you now but –" she was cut short by Kirra.

"I told you Blyane. They can't help us. Let's go." She snapped. I glared at her, and I let a little snarl leave my mouth. I never snarled…or growled for that matter. But she was just too rude. Kirra flinched back, obviously seeing and hearing me. Everyone else did too. Piper just smirked and went on.

"But you can stay here and we'll be sure to figure something out." She finished. I looked at her quickly. They stay here? Why here? Why not some deserted terra? She looked at me with a 'they're staying' expression and I backed down.

"Thank you so much." Blayne said.

"Fine." Kirra snapped. I growled this time. Piper quickly stood and motioned for Blyane to follow her with a smile on her face. He stood and so did everyone else. I quickly went to Piper's side and walked with her as she escorted the visitors. Once they were all in their rooms, Piper turned to me, with a little tint of irritation on her face.

"What got into you Aerrow? They're all friends of mine." She stated, crossing her arms.

"Well, I thought you had just gone to 'have fun' on Terra Neon. When really you were probably meeting that Blayne fellow!" I said sarcastically. I saw her flinch back. No way. "You did, didn't you? You _did_ bring us to Terra Neon just you could go see him." I said in disbelief. I saw her irritation fade to embarrassment and anxiousness.

"Aerrow if you'll give me time to explain, -" She started. But I cut her off.

"No, no, there's no need. Apparently there's something going on between you and Blayne. Don't let a little sky knight like me get in the way." I said and quickly walked away.

**Piper's POV**

I watched him walk away with a wretched feeling in my stomach. I couldn't believe I had hurt him so much. I was a monster. A terrible, terrible monster. I wanted to follow him and comfort him, but that would just make things worse. I should have told him before we left for Terra Neon. I should have told everyone everything. They would have helped me. Why was I so sure that I could everything myself. Because when I tried, I just hurt people. And I had just hurt the one person I'd been trying to protect. I felt the tears sliding down my face as the door down the hall opened.

"Piper?" A voice asked.

"Yes Blyane?" I said, my head down.

"I heard the whole thing. I'm sorry. Maybe if I talked to him?" He asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"You can try. But I doubt it will make any difference." I said and quickly got out of his grasp. Aerrow thinking that there might be some love connection between Blayne and I, even though it wasn't true, made me uncomfortable when Blayne was near me now. He just nodded once, and headed off toward Aerrow's room. I stared after him until he was gone, and then returned to my room and locked the door.

**Aerrow's POV**

She had gone to Terra Neon…just to see him. I didn't mean to snap at her like that. I didn't want to walk away. But the realization smacked me in the face. She loved Blayne. It was simple to tell. And the way Kirra acted, I doubted Blayne would be with her much longer. I sat on my bed and put my head in my hands. I suddenly let the sobs I had been trying so hard to contain the whole way to my room loose. There was nothing complicated to it. I loved her. Blyane probably loved her. She loved Blayne. Blayne probably didn't love Kirra anymore. Blayne and Piper would probably end up together. Kirra, being the nasty person she is, would just walk away. I…I would be heartbroken the rest of my life knowing I'd missed my chance. I heard a soft knock on my door. I quickly wiped away my tears and stood, trying to be the brave sky knight I was supposed to be.

"Come in." I said, my voice cracking a bit. The door opened, and I almost snapped at him to get out right then and there. Blayne stood in front of me now, the door closing behind him.

**This is one of the shorter chapters…I'm afraid I kinda wrote Aerrow and possibly Piper out of character, but this needed to be done. I really wanted this rivalry between Blayne and Aerrow…just for a little bit. And the rivalry between Piper and Kirra is obvious…though they have different reasons for the rivalry…anyway…please R&R! ~Crystalshake**


End file.
